Success for County Durham students in new A-Level system

Sixth form students across County Durham have been commended for their excellent A-Level results.

Students throughout the county today (Thursday) found out the results of all their hard work and study over the last two years and whether their grades would be enough to get them into the university or career of their choice.

All post-16 qualifications have gone through major reforms in the last few years with some significant changes to the A-Level system.

Students now sit A-Level exams at the end of two years of study rather than taking modular exams throughout the course, making yearly performance comparisons with previous cohorts more difficult.

Despite these challenges, the results for County Durham students have remained positive and look to be an improvement on the successes of previous years.

Early indications suggest our academic and vocational outcomes are above the national average and many of our schools have reported an increase in the numbers of students achieving the higher grades.

Cllr Olwyn Gunn, Cabinet member for children and young people’s services at Durham County Council, said: “We are delighted that our young people have achieved fantastic results, particularly as this is the first year of a new system.

“Although the full national attainment and progress statistics are not yet available, it is likely that County Durham will be placed above the national average and these excellent results reflect the hard work and commitment of both staff and students across all sixth forms and colleges.

“We greatly value the support and encouragement given by our parents and carers and are very pleased that our schools continue to identify increased numbers of successful first choice entries into university.”

Students without the grades they hoped for or looking for further career inspiration can visit www.help4teens.co.uk where they can view our Start Today booklet, which provides information on apprenticeships, recruitment and training for 16-19 years olds across the county.